Wednesday, May 17, 2006

a little home-cooked korean food

as a resident of los angeles, i am lucky to have access to the cuisine of many cultures...and the most authentic instances of the same outside of their native countries, at that. i consider myself a fairly adventurous eater and am constantly bugging my friends to introduce me to new "ethnic" restaurants, especially ones where me and the hubby will be the only honkies in the place! one of my favorites is korean food and one of my favorite appetizers when we go to korean bbq is the pa jan, a scallion pancake.

here's my stab at a homemade version. basically, you put some green onions and oysters or shrimp in a pan, pour over the batter and fry on both sides. preparation is simple. cut up the green onions into 2 inch lengths and chop up some cooked shrimp or oysters. i used tofu because i like it and it's what i had in my fridge.

in the authentic recipe, the batter calls for rice flour, but i use regular flour, an egg, milk, salt and a bit of sesame oil. mix up the batter so it is thin. thinner than pancake batter, maybe crepe batter consistency.

put a little oil in your pan (i use canola with a dash of sesame for flavor and my non-stick omelette pan), then lay down your green onions in the pan (try to get them all going the same direction) and sprinkle the oysters or chopped shrimp. let the oil get hot again after you add the green onions & seafood, because you want a nice crispy pancake. pour in enough batter to almost cover the green onions.

cook until pancake is set and brown on one side, then flip and brown the other side. slide out of the pan and sprinkle with a little salt while still hot. cut into wedges and serve with dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions and chili flakes. here's the final product. these got a little burned (i was on the phone when i was cooking). the ideal color is nice and golden with a nice fried texture.

i'm sure koreans everywhere are cringing at this photo and recipe, but this version is good enough to tide you over til the next time you're in l.a.'s k-town! as i said before, this is supposed to be an appetizer, but i have been known to sit down to dinner when the hubby is out of town with just a pa jan or two, some rice and some kimchi and a cold o.b. beer. [personal to mooncrazy, most cabbage kimchi has shrimp paste in it, so skip the kimchi.]